Day 6 [Halloween]: Wine Tasting and Markets

This morning we went wine tasting before going to the big market to look around the stalls. On the way we passed the streets where houses are painted all different colours every year to celebrate the time where slaves got their homes.

"You're not safe here"

Day 5: Langa Township

Today we visited Langa, a Township not far from our hotel. Our guide, Sugar, showed us round and took us to a house where the family didn't mind us having a look around and conversing with them. I took this opportunity to sit and draw the children who lived there and to photograph them.

We went to a nursery where we were greeted by class of children who sang to us. I was disturbed when I listened to the lyrics they were singing. One line that stuck out to me was 'Don't touch me, go away.' We were informed that they had been taught this because there are constant cases of children being abused in the area.

The most deprived part of Langa was the last place we visited. We arrived at the same times the toilets were being changed. This is when I began to realise how different my reality is to theirs. The children were great, I showed them how to capture a photo on my camera and they revelled in pictures of themselves. This has been one of the best experiences for me, it put a lot of things into perspective. The children had no running water or clean clothes and no technology and we take all of that for granted.

Day 4: Castle of Good Hope and The Art Museum

Today we visited the oldest building in South Africa; the Castle of Good Hope. This gave me the opportunity to draw the soldiers who were based there. The students who were filming the soldiers were asked to stop because they thought we were collecting footage of them in a negative way. This says a lot about the media and how things can be manipulated so easily.

The Art Museum

There were a few artists that caught my attention at the museum.

Diane Arbus was a photographer who captured black and white portraits of people in different scenarios. You can read a lot about the subject in just one picture. When I visit the townships I will bare this artist in mind, her work is emotive and narrative.


Penny Siopis' painting 'Wreckage upon Wreckage' caught my attention. Her use of sculpting and collaging gave the illusion that you could walk into the painting. It made me think about society and how we don't make things better, we simply 'brush things under the carpet.'


Keith Dietrich focusses on watercolour paintings. I was amazed at how realistic his paintings were, the detail was immaculate.




I also captured some photographs of baby Egyptian Geese that were outside of the museum.

We made a quick visit to a public garden on our way back to the hotel.